“I left my heart in San Francisco…” Are you singing yet? Well, you do not have to leave your heart there. Follow your heart and get married… in California!
But before you do, there are certain requirements you need to comply before you can marry the love of your life, like your presence, identifications, documentations and of course, the license fee.
How much is the cost of marriage license in CA? We will break it down for each county for you. That is if you decided to wed elsewhere.
Average Cost of Marriage License in California
The California marriage license cost ranges from $35 to $108. This is for the public marriage license. Confidential license ranges from $40 to $108. Both figures belong to Inyo county and San Francisco county, respectively. Accepted forms of payment are cash and money order. Although some counties accept credit cards and checks.
The following are the current cost of marriage license in CA counties. The first figure is for public license and the second is for confidential license.
- Alameda County $81 / $90
- Alpine County $53 / $53
- Amador County $65 / $78
- Butte County $84 / $91
- Calaveras County $60 / $60
- Colusa County $56 / $56
- Contra Costa County $86 / $90
- Del Norte County $61 / $61
- El Dorado County $68 / $58
- Fresno County $58 / $69
- Glenn County $56 / $56
- Humboldt County $78 / $80
- Imperial County $87 / $87
- Inyo County $35 / $40
- Kern County $82 / $94
- Kings County $56 / $56
- Lake County $65 / $70
- Lassen County $51/ $71
- Los Angeles County $91 / $85
- Madera County $50 / $50
- Marin County $85 / $93
- Mariposa County $60 / $65
- Mendocino County $85 / $87
- Merced County $61 / $70
- Modoc County $60 / $60
- Mono County $50 / $60
- Monterey County $85 / $90
- Napa County $83 / $83
- Nevada County $72 / $74
- Orange County $61 / $66
- Placer County $57 / $60
- Plumas County $60 / $65
- Riverside County $90 / $100
- Sacramento County $84 / $95
- San Benito County $75 / $85
- San Bernardino County $89 / $90
- San Diego County $70 / $89
- San Francisco County $108 / $108
- San Joaquin County $65 / $73
- San Luis Obispo County $100 / $100
- San Mateo County $79 / $80
- Santa Barbara County $100 / $111
- Santa Clara County $80 / $83
- Santa Cruz County $100 / $100
- Shasta County $72 / $77
- Sierra County $66 / $71
- Siskiyou County $71 / $78
- Solano County $85 / $95
- Sonoma County $82 / $98
- Stanislaus County $76 / $81
- Sutter County $59 / $77.50
- Tehama County $64 / $ 64
- Trinity County $72 / $72
- Tulare County $93 / $95
- Tuolumne County $65 / $93
- Ventura County $98 / $109
- Yolo County $98 / $109
- Yuba County $65 / $70
Additional Costs
As mentioned, your license validity will only be within 90 days from issuance. Failure to get married within that time frame would make the license invalid and you need to apply for another one, thereby entailing another cost.
If you need an extra copy or a certified true copy of your license, you can get it for an additional fee, which also varies depending on your county as the California marriage license cost is limited to one copy only.
Where to Apply for Marriage License
A marriage license can be acquired by applying to your respective county’s Office of the County Clerk. Check out USMarriageLaws.com for the list of locations where you could apply. If you need other information, California Department of Public Health or CDPH can help you out.
Application Process
Requirements for applying for a marriage license in California may differ in some aspects in each county. Some of the most common prerequisites include:
- Paying the marriage license fee at the time of application. The amount varies per county and the cost of a confidential marriage license is usually higher than the public license. Except in some counties where both licenses cost the same.
While two counties charge the public license higher than the confidential one. These are El Dorado County and Los Angeles County.
- It is not required for two parties to be already married to each other to marry in California.
- Both parties are required to appear in person when applying, complete with valid IDs with photo to be presented to the County Clerk Office.
- Minimum required age is 18 but some counties allow underage provided they have parental consent.
- There is no waiting period. As long as you meet the requirements, you get your marriage license upon application.
- The cost of marriage license in CA has a 90-day validity period. You should be married within 90 days from the issuance of the license. Otherwise, it will be revoked.
- Due to the prevalence of HIV and AIDS nowadays, you may be offered to take the blood test, but it is not required.
- You are not required to be a resident of California to be married there.
- The public marriage license is required to have at least one witness to sign. No witness is required in the confidential license.